Offending History

Some well-meaning state senators from the People's Republic of Maryland raised the political correctness flag again earlier this month. It seems they have issues with the names of two mountains in Western Maryland, about 150 west of their homes in and around Baltimore. Their proposal, outlined in Senate Joint Resolution 3, calls for the creation of a commission to rename Negro Mountain and Polish Mountain.

This calls to mind an early cartography lesson that OTR knows has made the rounds for generations. It seems the junior mapmaker was out in the field one day with a local expert preparing a map. As a series of ridges filled the vista, the mapmaker asked the expert for the name of the third ridge. "That's Peaked Mountain," he said. A few months later, the mapmaker returned with the finished product and asked the expert to check out their good work. When the expert looked a bit confounded, the mapmakers asked if there was a problem.

"Sure is." said the expert, "What's this here Pickett Mountain?"

"But you told me Pickett Mountain, and here it is in my notes."

On seeing the notebook, the expert replied, "That ain't it." "I said Peaked, as in P-E-A-K-E-D." "Sounds just like it's spelled, 'Pick-et' "

Even the best research deserves the proper context. That said, we can explore the topic at hand.

Both mountain names date from the 18th century. Negro Mountain was named during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) to honor a free black man. According to most documents, his name was Nemesis. He was the body servant to Thomas Cresap, Maryland's famous western frontiersman and Indian fighter. Nemesis was a giant of a man--referred to as Goliath in some documents--who fought valiantly beside Cresap in many skirmishes. The night before he died, Nemesis shared a premonition of his death with Cresap who then gave him the option of avoiding the fight. Nemesis declined the offer and was killed in an ambush on a ridge and buried there in what is now Garrett County. Cresap' was so moved by his loyal man's ultimate sacrifice that he wrote letters to colonial newspapers informing them that he had named the ridge Negro Mountain to honor his friend and fellow-frontiersman.

Changing a geographic place name in the United States is not as simple as it may sound. The final word on such names and changes rests with the Department of the Interior's Board on Geographic Names. The board itself is a rather fascinating little niche in our vast federal government and well worth exploring on its own. In the specific case of Negro Mountain, OTR expects the board will find insufficient evidence to overturn a name that has withstood the test for over two centuries. Though some may find the word "Negro" to be offensive, it is far from becoming the next "n" word in our vocabulary. After all, the U.S. Bureau of the Census maintains the term "Negro" to identify a racial class. Furthermore, the term is retained in a number of names, including the United Negro College Fund, and there are others, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People being one, that would seem far more offensive. On the other hand, OTR would not object to Nemesis Mountain as an alternative name as long as its memorial nature could be explained at every opportunity both on the ground and in the history books.

Renaming Polish Mountain is another issue entirely. Documentation to date tells us that this mountain's name first appeared on a map around 1790. No Polish family ever explored the mountain or settled there or tilled the rocky soil. No Polish hero died there fighting Indians. In fact, the name has nothing whatsoever to do with ethnicity or country of origin. As is characteristic of many of the mountain tops--Big Glassy Mountain in North Carolina, White Top in Virginia, to name two-- in the Appalachian's formations, Polish Mountain has extensive rock outcrops at its summit. From a distance, with the morning sun at a frontiersman's back, those rocks could seem to shine...as if they were polished. Indeed, that 1790s map labels the ridge, "Polished Mountain." Over time and history, the "ed" fell away to leave future generations with the current name. It is a common occurrence in the world of geography.

So we are left with Polish (with a short "o") Mountain and a group of six Maryland state senators who should be embarrassed for not doing better research before raising a "much ado about nothing" issue. This is a perfect expression of OTR's belief that meanings reside in people and not in words. One man's offense is another man's pride and joy. If there is a problem and we wish to know who owns it, we often have no further to look than in the bathroom mirror. And before we bring our problems to others, we had better understand the backstory before we ass-u-me the worst.

Photo: A real Polish mountain, in fact, the highest.